Bah Humbug!

I’m not sure why, but this year I have a distaste for all things Christmas.

I haven’t given it a lot of thought, but I suspect there are a couple of causes. Christmas starts earlier and earlier and earlier every year. Some radio stations begin playing Christmas music in October. I have seen Christmas displays in local stores as early as August. Businesses start airing Christmas-themed commercials earlier every year. Even if they aren’t overtly promoting wares for Christmas, they are clearly Christmas-themed. The only time of year I ever see commercials for jewelry stores or people surprising their significant others with SUVs, luxury cars, perfume or aftershave or my favorite, Chia Pets, is the Christmas holidays.

And of course the nonprofits began their high-pressure begging for money earlier in the year as well. I don’t know how many 'year end fund appeals' I have received in the mail so far. I donate a lot to a variety of charities throughout the year, not just at Christmas. The need is year-round, so that's when I donate. I try to make a donation to one charity every month.

Everything about Christmas these days is so commercialized. It’s all about buying lots of gifts, whether people can afford them. I have written previously about the search for “the perfect gift.” How much money people spend on Christmas is, of course, none of my business. People will do what people will do. But I’m tired of the constant pressure to get people to buy, buy, buy.

Christmas is great for kids. They are so excited to get a visit from Santa, and to wake up extra early on Christmas day to discover their gifts under the tree. But for adults, the holidays can be a time of great stress, financial and otherwise. And the expectations are so high. Unlike the happy, laughing families depicted in ads and commercials, many families simply are not like that. Maybe they are missing loved ones, or just maybe the families are dysfunction. But the expectation is there for a perfect family gathering, complete with piles of gifts and tables laden with food.

The whole thing seems so hypocritical. Christmas began as a celebration of the birth of the Christian savior. It has become a race to get the best deal or to snag this year's must-have gift. 

I used to do a lot of baking for Christmas, everything from several kinds of cookies to a 3-pound batch of fudge. Then when I retired and didn't have anyone with whom to share the goodies -- and the calories -- I cut back on the number of cooky types I baked. My daughter doesn't care for fudge, so I stopped making it. The last couple of years I did no holiday baking at all.

I also have stopped decorating my house for Christmas. I gave my big artificial tree to a local domestic violence shelter, along with a couple bags of ornaments and several strings of lights. 

I have close to 50 Christmas CDs, which I always enjoyed listening to. This year I have no desire to listen to holiday music.

So I guess the Grinch has taken over my house this year.

I would like to see more emphasis on the act of giving to others in ways that don't cause financial strain on families, and that take us closer to what the holidays were originally meant to be. And not everyone celebrates Christmas. It is, after all, a Christian holiday. People of other religions -- Jews, Hindus, Muslims and others -- must feel totally awash. I mean, how often do you see commercials advertising 'the perfect gift' for a Jewish person during Hanukkah? 

I was in Costa Rica several years ago just before Christmas. The mall I visited was not awash with decorated trees, huge 'sale' signs and Santa Claus representations. My hotel had a single indication that it was almost Christmas -- a Nativity scene. We had dinner one night at the home of a local family, who house had a couple of religious scenes and a tree set up, but nothing more.

How about we get back to treating the December holidays as a time to celebrate by being kind and generous? 

Chasing 'the Perfect Gift'

 And so it begins .. 'Black Friday' and the mad dash for 'the perfect gift.'

I wonder how many billions of dollars will be spent on 'the perfect gift' this year. Prices for everything are sky high. People are struggling to afford life's necessities. Yet I have already seen a commercial in which the smiling wife gives her husband a big SUV, while he gives her a large puppy.

Advertisers have been touting 'Black Friday month' for a while. I get it. Businesses are scared they might not get enough sales due to the fragile economy this year. Too many people are struggling just to get by. I would hope that people are not tempted to spend money on things they can't afford. Sadly, each year people max out their credit cards during the holidays. I simply mute the commercials, or more likely, fast forward through them as I watch very little live television.

I found a perfect gift for myself yesterday. I 'adopted' a baby elephant in a sanctuary in northern Kenya. For a mere $50, I will help support this orphan for a full year. (Each orphan has multiple sponsors). I love elephants, so it made perfect sense to add this little female elephant to my 'herd' of three others sponsored through another Kenyan elephant sanctuary.

I made an early morning trip to the grocery store today. I was surprised by my visceral disgust when I spotted the first pile of supposedly Christmas-themed items  I have no idea what kinds of things were in the pile, but it was clearly meant to be a pile of stuff for Christmas. The leftovers from yesterday's Thanksgiving feast have barely been put away, and already we are being confronted by Christmas. Three satellite radio stations started playing holiday music in October! Some stores start setting out Christmas trees and other holiday decorations in August. 

Maybe I'm just an old curmudgeon. But I would like to see the Christmas season be a time of religious reflection for those so inclined, and a time for everyone to reach out to the less fortunate, to show kindness and generosity to others, and to focus far less on the endless search for 'the perfect gift.' When I was a child, my siblings and I would ask our cousins and friends "What did you get for Christmas?" Bragging about our haul of gifts was what we did. 

I would like to believe that we have outgrown that emphasis on what we get, and replace it with an emphasis on what we can give. But I don't believe we have. The push to buy and spend is as powerful as ever.

I enjoy buying things for friends and family, but only if I can think of something I know they will enjoy. I won't buy something out of a sense of obligation. This year, I am making personalized photo wall calendars for three friends who enjoy my photography. They don't expect me to do this, but it is something I enjoy and I know they will find pleasure in the calendars for the next 12 months.

What if rather than the endless search for "the perfect gift," we create something truly personal? Put your creative talents to work by making a painting, knitting or crocheting something, baking a tasty treat, giving a homemade jam or cookies or something else not mass-produced.

We can do better.

Thanksgiving 2022

It's a few days before Thanksgiving, and a good time to pause and consider all for which I am thankful.

I

It's easy while living our comfortable lives to overlook the many blessings we have. So much of the world's population isn't nearly as fortunate.

This year has been a pretty good one for me. I got to travel again after getting fully vaccinated against the covid virus and after a year of reduced travel due to the pandemic. I had a fourth (and hopefully final) surgery to remove kidney stones. After one of my dogs -- the young one -- tripped me and I did a face plant on the dirt road that knocked loose the artificial lens in one eye -- I was able to get a new lens implanted by an amazing eye surgeon.

I traveled to Scotland to visit a friend in Edinburgh for a week, and a mutual friend from England joined us for a few days. I fulfilled a long-held dream of vising Greece and Namibia. My Scottish friend and I traveled to Alaska for more than 2 weeks, exploring much of that vast state. Another dream trip to Pompeii will wrap up the year's travels.

I am so grateful for the urologist who continues to monitor my kidney health and who performed my most recent kidney stone surgery.

I am grateful for my friend who continues to provide transportation home after surgery and after trips to the retina specialist when my. eyes are dilated.

I am thankful for my retina specialist, who is a skilled and kind man, and I am so grateful to have him in my corner.  And I am extremely thankful that my eyes are still good enough to allow me to follow my passion of wildlife and landscape photography. I also am grateful for the ophthalmologist who completed a lengthy and complex surgery to replace the lens in one eye. I am so fortunate that after a face-down fall that knocked me unconscious for a few seconds (thanks to an exuberant puppy) didn't cause any more serious damage.

I am grateful for my good health and for being able to walk 4 miles every day. When so many my age face serious and debilitating health problems, I am still active and healthy. I don't need a walker or a cane, and I don't need supplemental oxygen as do so many. My aging body can't do all the things it used to do, but I am so grateful that I can continue to live independently and retain my mobility. As I get older and a variety of aches and pains (osteoarthritis and bursitis) afflict me, I am so appreciative that these are the only afflictions that bother me.

I am thankful that my daughter is doing well as a new mother, and that her baby son is healthy and happy.

I am grateful that my sister visited me in New Mexico. I also am grateful that my daughter and grandson came to visit for my birthday this year.

As the weather turns cold, I am grateful for my wonderful, warm house with its beautiful views of the mountains. I am grateful for my two dogs that keep me on my toes every day and love me beyond words.  

Unlike so many, I have more than enough to eat, I have warm clothes, a reliable car and good health insurance. I have money to cover any emergencies that pop up. This more than most is very difficult due to the high price of groceries, fuel and just about everything else.

And I am grateful that I have both the means and the desire to help feed those in need through World Central Kitchen, Roadrunner Food Bank and Meals on Wheels.

I am grateful to live in a free country where people are allowed to vote without fear of repercussions, although the recent spate of laws designed to suppress the vote of millions of people concerns me greatly. I value our ability to peacefully protest. I am grateful for the members of our military who keep us safe and free, and for the first responders who daily risk their lives in service to others. I am particularly grateful for the nurses, respiratory therapists, physicians and other medical staff who care for us.

I will prepare a sort of Thanksgiving meal this year for the first time in a few years. I have bought a turkey, (at a price I couldn't refuse), and although I will dine alone, I will enjoy a somewhat traditional Thanksgiving meal. I won't make mashed potatoes or have dessert or cranberries, but the essence of the meal will be there.  And the reason for the meal will be present.

I am grateful for the fierce determination and sacrifices of the people of Ukraine who continue to fight against the invading Russians.

I will spend a quiet day at home, knowing I have plenty to eat and thinking about the many blessings in my life. Because in the end, regardless of our troubles, we in this country still do have much for which to be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. And remember, Thanksgiving shouldn't be merely a day that comes once a year. We should be thankful for our bounty every day.

Life Isn't Fun

Life isn't fun anymore.

I used to tell my young daughter, when she would complain that she was bored and that her life wasn't fun, that life in general isn't fun. People have obligations and responsibilities, whether they are at work or in school. Our lives are generally pretty mundane. We get up each morning, go to school or to work, come home, watch television, go to bed, and get up the next morning to do it all over again. And somewhere in there, we find time to shop, cook, do laundry and take care of our families, our pets and our houses.

I have been retired for more than a decade, so I don't to to school or to work each day. I still have responsibilities, of course, but I am free of the daily 9 to 5 drudgery. Still, my life isn't fun.

I do have fun, of course. Travel is the biggest source of fun in my life. And photography is fun. I enjoy reading and learning new things. But recently, the world in which I live is decidedly not a fun place to be.

Think about it. Climate change is wreaking havoc on the country, with record wildfires. States were devastated by massive hurricanes. Several states in the south and along the eastern seaboard faced massive flooding and loss of life. This country's northeast has been hammered by record-breaking snowfall. Immigrants from Central America and Haiti continue to flood our southern border, the result being an overwhelmed border patrol. People and wildlife in northern Kenya struggle to survive terrible drought.

Millions of Americans refuse to get jobs despite there being millions of positions available, many of which offer low pay. I watch each day as Russia bombs parts of Ukraine into oblivion, bombing schools, hospitals and places where civilians are taking shelter. They are unable to win through military might, so they now are targeting electric and water infrastructure.

White nationalism, encouraged by the acquittal of a punk 18-year-old who fatally shot and killed two men and wounded a third after claiming self-defense, has only encouraged the extreme far right to ramp up its attacks on our nation and on our freedoms.

I believe this nation is at a crossroads that will determine whether we continue to live in a free, democratic nation, or whether we become just another racist, fascist country. Republicans are hard at work passing bills to make it more difficult to vote, all while claiming they want to protect against non-existent voter fraud. Attacks on women's reproductive rights are already happening. The Republican clan in the US Senate refuses to support the president's legislation that would help the poor and middle classes, claiming the bill would add too much to the federal deficit. Of course, these same officials had no problems with adding to the deficit when they cut taxes on corporations and billionaires.

I thought that once the former occupant of the Oval Office lost the election, we would get a reprieve from the daily rantings and obstructionism of the Rethuglican party. 

I couldn't have been more wrong.

So no, this adult, intelligent, caring retiree definitely agrees that life isn't fun.

If I Were A Bear ...

I want to be a bear. 

That’s right, a bear. And I don’t care what kind of bear.

I could be a grizzly bear. I could be a black bear. I could be a polar bear. As long as I could hibernate, I would be happy.

If I were a bear, I could stuff my face with all the calories I could get in the late summer and fall in preparation for hibernation. Then I would crawl into a cozy den and sleep throughout the winter. I hate winter, so the thought of being warm and cozy in a den as the temperatures dropped would be wonderful. I would burn stored body fat to keep myself alive during the long, cold and dark months of winter.  Then I would wake up in the spring as temperatures rise and food becomes more plentiful.

Of course there is a major downside to being a bear: getting shot for fun by some mighty hunter. And some places think it’s OK to allow the mighty hunters to actually murder bears, including cubs, while they are hibernating. Not much of a sport.

As nighttime temperatures consistently drop below freezing, and as a frigid wind often blows, hibernating sounds better and better.

Resurgence of a Madman

 Here we go again.

The most inept, corrupt, self-serving president in my lifetime appears ready to announce another run at the presidency. This is despite the fact he is under investigation for numerous 'alleged' crimes. As is his habit, he is doing everything in his power to derail or at least to tie up the proceedings in never-ending court battles.

And once again, I am more fearful than ever for the future of our country. He wants nothing more than to become a dictator, a despot, who wants to replace the federal government's non-partisan civil servants with political hacks who have sworn fealty to him, not to the constitution. Already the MAGA wing of the Republican party has said it wants to get rid of Social Security and Medicare, the two lifelines on which so many senior citizens rely. Despite the MAGA claims, these are not 'entitlements' that are part of the government's largess. Everyone who has ever held a job in America shas been forced to pay into these programs through mandatory tax withholding. 

Something needs to be done to ensure that Social Security has enough reserves to pay the full benefits that people were promised. The best step would be to remove the salary cap that limits the income subject to the Social Security tax. Another step would be to limit or eliminate benefits for those earning more than a certain amount of money each year.

But that would fly in the face of the GOP's consistent pandering to the multimillionaires and billionaires in this country. 

The GOP also wants to limit or eliminate military aid to Ukraine in its battle for survival against its more powerful neighbor, Russia. The former president already has shown how much he admires autocrat Putin. The US under the Biden administration has provided advanced weapons to Ukraine, which has used them with great success. The US also has rejoined the world community. We cannot afford to once again threaten NATO and pander to the world's dictators.

Do we want a president who has stolen highly classified documents and hidden them in his Florida palace? Merely, as he claimed, declassifying documents in his head doesn't make the documents declassified. There is an entire procedure for declassification of documents. In any event, the documents were not his to steal. They are the property of the federal government and should not be stolen simply because he wants to sell them to the highest bidder.

So once again we are dealing with the rantings of a mentally unbalanced megalomaniac who will do anything to regain the power and attention he so desperately craves. He is not fit to be president. He doesn't want the job of president. He simply wants the perks, the power, the worship of his cult members and the opportunities to make more money. And perhaps the greatest benefit of all -- he can avoid prosecution for his numerous legal troubles as long as he is a sitting president.

Our country -- indeed, the world -- can ill afford to have a madman at the helm.